FEATURE
Interview: Taurie Chases After Her Heart
Seductive soul singer-songwriter, dancer, model, and producer Taurie recently released the music video for “Hypnotize Me.”
Describing her sound as an “R&B to hip-hop feel, soft Bronx to contemporary,” “Hypnotize Me” blends a cool, low-slung hip-hop rhythm with delicious suffusions of creamy R&B. The result is mesmerizing.
Working with artists like Kyng Lyrik and Rockstar Ham, Taurie’s music does more than make listeners feel good, it delivers smooth textures of smoldering music with dazzling visuals. Her music video, “Mistletoe,” took top honors at The Garden State Film Festival.
In the video for “Hypnotize Me,” Taurie dons a VR headset and enters another world, one where she moves through the fabric of time and various magical dimensions in pursuit of her ideal lover’s aura – idyllic and thrilling beyond measure.
As she travels through the cosmos looking for the feeling she seeks, her center of attention never wavers.
Muzique Magazine spoke with Taurie to discover how she got started in music, what inspires her, and what listeners might expect next.
What’s your favorite song to belt out in the car or the shower?
- Oldies from the ‘70s to today – Sade’s songs, ‘70s soul music, Diana Ross.
- Modern Day – Yuna, Jhene Aiko, Sza, H.E.R.
- NiPop (Nigerian Pop) – Burna Boy, Wiz Kid, Olamide.
Who is your favorite music artist?
Sade, Yuna, and Lenny Kravitz
How did you get started in music? What’s the backstory there?
While in medical school, aspiring to be a neurosurgeon, my reading breaks hobby was writing poems and sketching. From writing poems, I’d find myself putting melodies around them, and before long, I found myself in an actual music studio one day helping a friend put a mixtape together for a party. It was such an exhilarating experience for me that I kept going to the studio and I never looked back. Today, I have two full albums, many features, and singles including a Christmas single “MISTLETOE” whose video won me an award at the prestigious GSFF here in New Jersey.
Writing songs is sporadic and easy for me using feelings, experiences, and ambiance. I don’t see any other life but this.
What musicians/producers influenced you the most?
Sade, Diana Ross, Aaliyah, Yuna, Jhene Aiko, and Lenny Kravitz.
Which artists are you listening to right now?
Chris Brown, Drake, Jhene Aiko, and Yuna,
What inspired your latest single “Hypnotize Me?”
This song, like many of my songs, came from a sporadic feeling of longing – longing to keep looking for that intense, ecstatic, and euphoric feeling when around a person one is attracted to, and a relentless quest to find it.
What do you want people to take away from the video?
“Hypnotize Me” is really about freedom to exhale and chase after your heart, embracing all that it brings, especially the feeling of escaping into fantasy and bliss.
Why do you make music?
In my opinion, music is an antidote to any sad feeling and an enhancer of good ones. It is an expression of emotions that can intensely capture one’s feelings and expressions when one is unable to communicate their expressions. To be able to process these qualities that people appreciate is humbling for me. It is also therapeutic for me to be able to get lost in the imagination of my lyrics and find solace in escaping into them.
What can you share about your songwriting process?
The process of songwriting for me is dynamic and with any specific process that is consistent. I can say that I am a hopeless romantic so each time I write, I end up talking about love, its ups, and downs, pain, hope, and the quest for love. I draw from anything – the weather, a mood, someone else’s mood, another song, a beat. Whatever moves me to write is what I go with.
How are you handling the coronavirus lockdown?
The experience of taking on an unexpected global pandemic that literally shut the world down was frightening and crippling. It showed me how vulnerable we all are, as a people, and forced me to appreciate things and people I often took for granted – family, friends, bonding with people that appreciate me, learning to appreciate people more, showing gratitude each day that friends and family are alive and healthy. Today, I continue to be thankful for the lives and the heroic efforts of our scientists and frontline workers who continue to relentlessly find ways to keep us safe. I would say I handle the pandemic with an increased sense of gratitude, bringing joy in my own little way by producing music that puts a smile on people’s faces and maybe even laughter while dancing!
What’s next for you musically?
I’ve been quite busy in the studio and already negotiating venues for performance this year, as the ‘doors open for businesses.’
So, for this year, “Hypnotize Me” is my second single release. I have six more singles that my team and I are working on, including “HAPPILY FALLING,” a romantic wedding, anniversary song that expresses the epitome of love, and “REDO,” an upbeat song that is more of a makeup song, is a hit that will be released mid-summer.
As my exposure and fanbase continue to increase, I hope to travel more to distant lands to perform and meet new people.
